Manchester university graduate, 30, brutally raped and murdered by Uber driver on way home from night out

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

A Manchester University graduate who was helping refugees in Lebanon was brutally raped, murdered then dumped at the roadside by an Uber driver on the way home from a night out, an inquest has heard. Rebecca Dykes, 30, who was described as a 'devoted humanitarian', had been travelling back from a night out in the Gemmayzeh district of Beirut when she was picked up by Uber driver Tariq Houshieh in December 2017.

Rebecca had been working for the Department for International Development since January 2017 and was helping Lebanon to cope with refugees from the war in Syria. She had graduated with a degree in social anthropology at the University of Manchester in 2005, and also had a MA in international security and global governance from Birkbeck, University of London.

Her body had been dumped at the side of the road after the cab driver raped her and strangled her with a cord from his hoodie. Houshieh was handed a death sentence in 2019 but is appealing to have it commuted, according to MyLondon.

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He was working as a taxi driver despite having a criminal record. He had twice been arrested for alleged harassment and theft, according to Agence-France Presse.

At a delayed inquest into her death at the Inner South London Coroner's court in Southwark on Wednesday (August 3), senior coroner Andrew Harrison quizzed British embassy in Beirut post security officer Alyson King about the security arrangements in place as he considered the need for a prevention of future deaths report.

King noted staff have a security brief on arrival, carry personal alarms, have monthly security meetings, regular workshops, and women's only sessions. In 2017 staff were